The University of Warwick is delighted to announce that four academics in the Faculty of Social Sciences have been conferred Fellowship of the Academy this spring.

Western Balkans expert Dr Andi Hoxhaj is one of the contributors to the 2022 Freedom House Nations in Transit Report, an annual expert assessment of the state of democracy in the region stretching from Central Europe to Central Asia, published today.

Newly published research from the University of Warwick and the University of Sussex Business School reveals that the influence of left-of-centre parties increase the strength of a government’s climate policy score by about 22% relative to the average score while the influence of right-wing populist parties leads to a 24% reduction relative to the same average.

The University of Warwick recently welcomed guests from the British Academy to its first event as a member of the British Academy Early Career Researcher Network Midlands Hub. The Research Café event, held in the new Faculty of Arts Building (FAB) was focused on early career staff at Warwick, and brought together researchers from across the Humanities, Social Science and Arts to share experiences and learn informally from each other.

New research challenges the conventional theory that the transition from foraging to farming drove the development of complex, hierarchical societies by creating agricultural surplus in areas of fertile land. In The Origin of the State: Land Productivity or Appropriability?, a team of economists shows that it is the adoption of cereal crops that is the key factor for the emergence of hierarchy.

The study, by researchers from the London School of Economics and the University of Warwick, analysed the anonymised personal tax returns of everyone who claimed ‘non-dom’ status between 1997 and 2018. Non-doms are individuals who are resident in the UK, but who claim on their tax return that their permanent home (‘domicile’) is abroad.

A practice guide by Dr Alastair Smith demonstrates how the University of Warwick is innovating in sustainability within education through projects which enable students to enjoy practical engagement with real-world climate change issues, while developing their own knowledge and understanding in the process.

The law on weddings in England and Wales has been too slow to respond to religious and cultural diversity and the increasing number of people who do not identify with any religion at all, finds a new study led by University of Warwick researcher Dr Rajnaara Akhtar of Warwick Law School.

New research shows that attending a Cathedral Christmas Carol Service has a positive impact on mental health and well-being.

Less than a quarter of firms introducing AI technology over the past five years believe it has led to a net loss of jobs, a new survey led by researchers at the University of Warwick and the University of Sussex Business School reveals.

Contrary to reports of a rise in rural living, new research from CAGE shows the COVID pandemic has done little to change the economic geography of the UK. But the preference for urban living revealed in the report offers an opportunity for the government to tackle regional inequality.

A new tool to help assess service quality for people with a learning disability now being piloted by the Care Quality Commission draws on a Quality of life Framework developed by University of Warwick academics with the PBS Academy and with Experts by Experience and practitioners at the CQC.

Warwick researchers will host a month-long series of free events as the university’s contribution to the 2021 ESRC Festival of Social Science. This year’s programme has a strong focus on environmental issues, reflecting the UK’s role as host of the COP26 conference.

New research by an international team including Professor Sonia Bhalotra of Warwick Economics and CAGE finds a strong link between job loss and domestic violence. Men who lose their jobs are more likely to inflict domestic violence, while women who lose their jobs are more likely to become victims. The increases are upwards of 30%. The study discusses carefully designed unemployment benefits as a new approach to policy measures intended to protect women and girls.

The coronavirus pandemic has presented populist governments with a unique opportunity to implement authoritarian measures and to limit public scrutiny of their decisions and policies, argues Dr Andi Hoxhaj of Warwick Law School in a new paper published in the European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance.

Is there a flaw in initiatives to increase diversity at work? A new study by researchers at Columbia University and the University of Warwick finds that in the USA, white employees can unintentionally perpetuate inequality by ignoring and underestimating their black peers.

A new research centre, headed by Professor Francesco Squintani and based within the Department of Economics at Warwick University, aims to become a centre of excellence for collaborative research in quantitative and analytical political economy. The Quantitative and Analytical Political Economy Research Centre (QAPEC) will consolidate and advance the research work of quantitative and analytical political economists at Warwick.

A new group of expert economic and social sciences researchers has come together to provide independent, evidence-based advice to policymakers on work and employment as the UK emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched this morning (10 August 2021), the Renewing Work Advisory Group of Experts (ReWAGE) will be co-chaired by Professor Chris Warhurst of the University of Warwick’s Institute for Employment Research and Professor Irena Grugulis, Chair of Work and Skills at Leeds University Business School.

Dr Laura Lammasniemi of Warwick Law School has been chosen to deliver the 2021 British Science Association Social Sciences Award Lecture, in recognition of her innovative research and commitment to public engagement. The Award Lectures have been presented at the British Science Festival since 1990. They celebrate and promote front line research being carried out in the UK by early-career scientists, and have become a springboard for many successful science communicators such as Professor Brian Cox (2006) and Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock (2008).

Warwick undergraduate Sana Mittar, 19, from New Delhi, has received a prestigious Diana Award in recognition of her work supporting vulnerable communities in India during the pandemic. Established in 1999 in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, The Diana Award scheme recognises young people between 9 and 25 who are going above and beyond in their daily life to create and sustain positive change through social action or humanitarian work.